
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Climate Change: Washing away Pakistan
By Sobia Ijaz
As the world watches, Pakistan adds to its list of challenges a problem on a scale never seen by the country before; not only must it struggle with its domestic economic and political problems, but Pakistan faces its worst natural disaster in the form of flooding caused by torrential rain. In a country in which over 60% of the people live on $2 a day, the UN estimates that 1600 people have been killed by the flooding and nearly 14 million affected. The numbers continue to climb as the country now faces more rain and water-borne diseases in its refugee communities.
Every day that passes I see and hear more about my country being washed away. Mud brick homes that gave shelter to the deprived are destroyed by a deluge of water. People that spend their entire lives gathering simple possessions and livestock, and selling what little they had to make a living now find everything they ever possessed under water. The little land they owned is now nowhere to be found.
As the heavy rains continue, and people remain trapped throughout the flooded areas, the thought of reconstruction is far from the first priority concern. Despite focusing on short-term rescue, long-term implications remain daunting. The health impacts caused by the flooding are one part of a bigger picture: the threat of water-borne diseases has become reality as the United Nations has confirmed cases of cholera. Most refugees are still being rescued and placed into temporary homes, but as life in refugee camps becomes a harsh reality, survivors’ mental health will certainly be affected by the trauma of displacement and an uncertain future. Other long-term impacts of the flood in Pakistan will slowly be realized and uncovered. In a New York Times article Fazl Maula Zahid, the regional manager of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, discussed long-term food security in Pakistan. Land in northern Pakistan that was once fertile, feeding thousands of people, will become desert like due to the flooding. These are only a few of many problems Pakistan will face in the future.
These climate refugees from the flooding add to the thousands of Northern Pakistani villagers already left homeless from receding glaciers filling their towns with water. The melting glaciers and increased rainfall in Pakistan have given way to discussions about the effects of global warming on Pakistan. Khalid Rashid, a mathematician and physicist who studies changes in global weather patterns, explained a possible root cause of the flooding: “Above-normal temperatures in the Indian Ocean give rise to increased precipitation. And in the north of Pakistan, when moisture-riddled wind currents collide with the mountains and are pushed up into cooler altitudes, moisture is released in the form of cloud bursts”. These weather patterns have been exacerbated and made worse because of climate change. Similar to harsher storms we’ve seen off the Gulf Coast in recent years. The chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) commented on Pakistan’s current climate, “The floods of the kind that hit Pakistan may become more frequent and more intense in the future in this and other parts of the world”.Monday, August 16, 2010
Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?
Our colleagues from Afrodad in Zimbabwe collaborated with Jubilee USA this past week to discuss potential solutions to unsustainable debt burdens facing many impoverished countries with policymakers and civil society. Check out Leslie Pitterson’s article about these issues “Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?” featured in All Africa.
Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?Will the global economic crisis bring together both developed and developing nations to create oversight for foreign lending? This is the hope of many advocacy groups calling for a United Nations debt arbitration mechanism.
In a round table meeting in New York last week, advocate groups discussed the need to address Africa's worsening debt crisis. According to the most current numbers from the IMF and World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa has over $231 billion in external debt. Though the region receives $10 billion dollars in aid per year, it loses more than $14 billion in debt payments annually.
Collins Magalasi, Executive Director of the African Forum and Network for Debt and Development (AFRODAD), said foreign debt was crippling African countries.
"The issue of debt is one of the biggest obstacles in development on the continent. We know that debt can be legitimate and it can also be illegitimate."As the Millennium Development ten-year anniversary summit approaches in September, AFRODAD will be working with Jubilee USA Network, an American organization that advocates for debt cancellation in impoverished countries in the developing world.
At present, there is no UN agency providing specific oversight of debt disputes. The United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has included in its charter principles to govern borrowing, but does not include specific framework to handle disputes that arise when a country is unable to make payments on its loans.
Magalasi stressed that the purpose is not to question whether or not countries should be borrowing. "That's not our realm," he said. "What we're asking is: if a county is unable to meet their obligations and wants to appeal their debt, is there a third-party at the international level to listen or no? Right now is the answer no."
Africa's debt crisis is illustrated most vividly in countries like Malawi, which spends 40 percent of its GDP repaying foreign creditors and15 percent on its healthcare and education combined.
With Greece's debt woes dominating business headlines in Europe and America, AFRODAD believes there is an opportunity for developing nations to gain support from developed nations for debt reform.
"Much of the discussion on vulture creditors has been quelled in the halls of power because it only applied to Africa and the third world," said Magalasi. "Now, with developed countries in the West feeling their wrath as well, maybe there can be political will to push this change."
While it is unclear if Greece's woes will provide enough impetus to bring Europe and America to call for a UN arbitration mechanism, some think China's increasing growth as a creditor nation may raise enough concern to help bolster efforts for reform.
Since 2004, China has pumped over $14 billion into Africa, providing capital for many much-needed infrastructure projects. However, China's relationship with the government in Sudan despite ICC war charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has many weary of the giant's presence on the continent.
"China's move is massively scary because they have shown no regard for human rights and conditions in the countries," said Magalasi. The AFRODAD executive stressed that weaknesses of African governance also played a role in the relationship with China. "Many leaders love Chinese aid because it is easier than dealing with the responsibilities that come with Western aid."
The increased investment in Africa has provided tensions within Western creditor nations of the Paris Club of which China is not a member. The Club, an informal group of 19 creditor nations established in 1956, meets every six weeks at France's Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industry.
Also in attendance for last week's round table discussion was Barry Herman, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Graduate Program in International Affairs of The New School. In an interview with MediaGlobal, Herman explained that China's involvement in Africa was a source of concern for Paris Club:
"China, as well as Gulf donors/creditors, has caused some unease among OECD official creditors, as China is not in the Paris Club of OECD government creditors and so is not bound by any debt relief decision the Paris Club creditors might take."
Not only does China remain unrestricted by the decisions of the Paris Club, it has now become a major creditor of many of the Western countries within the Club.
According to Eric LeCompte, Jubilee's Executive Director, China's rise underscored the need for debt reform.
"As China becomes a larger creditor - it illustrates that a sovereign debt work-out mechanism is necessary," LeCompte told MediaGlobal. "We need a transparent and open process, so that no matter which country or international financial institution a country is in dispute with, there is a mechanism where the rules are clear and any country can have its case heard fairly."
For AFRODAD and Jubilee, the roundtable was the start of a two week trip filled with meetings in New York and Washington. The groups will be working to generate support among US policymakers and NGOs in the months leading up to the Millennium Development Goals Summit in Se
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Meet Mr. Nyirenda, Mr. Nyrongi, and Innocent
Here's the second part of the story of my investigation on Zambia's education system and the impacts of debt cancellation.
Chibombo is about 100 kilometers north of Lusaka, the capital. There is a good road that leads through rich farming land – much of it owned and farmed by white Zambians. At the Chibombo Secondary School Deputy Head Teacher, Mr. Nyirenda. proudly announced that they have parity between girls and boys at the school with three dorms for girls and three for boys. There are both boarding and day students at the school although the majority live on campus. Boarding school students pay $100 USD per term and day students pay $50-60 USD per term.
The Chibombo Secondary School is set off the main road on a small campus. There are 114 basic schools in the district, but they are the only government secondary school in the district. The Chibombo district is larger than the UK!, Mr. Nyirenda exclaimed. The school teaches industrial arts, home economics, music, fine arts as well as university preparatory courses.
Mr. Nyirenda also talked about some of the benefits of debt cancellation:I was impressed by the dedication of the teachers in all the schools and their insights into what the country needs to do to emerge from poverty. Zambian society has a real asset in its teachers and administrative staff – young, bright and committed!
Friday, July 30, 2010 By Moriam Durosinmi-Etti. On Tuesday January 12, 2010, at about noon, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at the depth of 8.1 miles. After about 8 aftershocks, out of 9 million residents, 92 thousand were killed, 300 thousand were injured and millions were left homeless. Before the earthquake, Haiti was a country already struggling to hold its head up high, with its health and most if not all of its other sector resource starved and understaffed. The earthquake officially changed their position, crippling their health, economy and other sectors in the government,making it the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Since the earthquake, the crime rate in the country sky rocketed, especially against women and young girls. With the justice system crippled, the offenders continue their ways. This week, I had the opportunity to go for the Haiti briefing at the Rayburn building on July 27, 2010. This hearing discussed the current problems of Haiti and their supposed solutions. The hearing was quite educative, because it gave me an insight to the current situations and problems in Haiti. Its been six months since the earthquake and 98% of the country is still filled qith debris from buildings and the dead not fully buried. Most of the hearing revolved around the Internally Displaces Persons (IDP) Camps, which were created to temporarily house the homeless families of Haiti. Though these families were guaranteed food and security until their homes were inspected, none of these were provided. The living condition in these camps is poor and very unhealthy - not even a toilet can be found in this facility, increasing health risks for the individuals living there. I personally find it disheartening that six months after the disaster, no significant improvement can be seen in Haiti. The citizens and the government may be doing their best with the little resource they have, but before any significant change can be made within the country, the government has to improve drastically. This is another issue brought up at the hearing. In my opinion, Haiti may be the first independent nation in Latin America, but it has nothing to show of their success. Even thought the earthquake was a disaster and a sad moment in her history, this could be a chance for Haiti to prove her worth and actually hold her head up high. At the hearing, they also talked about what Haiti needs now. For any progress to be made in this country, the debris must be cleared. To salvage the economy, food and other edible products should be bought locally - this will help to pacify the already destabilized system and also the farmers and traders. Experts also thought the country should also try implementing a more decentralized system of government, so that each departme
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Being originally from Nigeria, I can say that she is one of the most populous countries in the world. Nigeria has the potential of being one of the world’s richest and strongest countries in the world, but it was delayed by three decades of military rule, corruption and degradation of public institutuions.
The restoration of democracy and subsequent economic reforms put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. Today I can proudly say that my motherland has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and made history in April 2006 by becoming the first African nation to completely pay its debt (estimated $30 billion) to the Paris Club.
In 2005, Nigeria reached a new agreement on debt with its bilateral creditors gaining 18 billion in debt cancellation at the price of 12 billion in payments over the following year and a new economic program on economic monitoring was set up by the IMF. Her debt accumulated over the years from the oil boom of the 1970’s when a loan was collected to finance some major infrastructural investment and other irresponsible lending; but as the price of oil fell, Nigeria struggled to keep up with its payment which resulted in late fees and interests. This led to the negotiations in 2005 with the Paris Club, a group of financial officials from the world’s biggest economies that provides debt restructuring and debt relief to countries who need it.
Nigeria is classified as a low income country by the World Bank but is still excluded from the HIPC Initiative (Heavily Indebted poor countries Initiative) because Nigeria export $20 billion worth of petroleum annually, which according to the criteria set up by the IMF and World Bank can service the debt of the country. One of the other reasons Nigeria was not included to the HIPC Initiative was because 85% of Nigeria’s debt was bilateral (loans from other countries) and only 8% to multilateral institutions like the World Bank.
Thinking outside the box, I see Nigeria as a country that has so much hidden potential if we take care of her and invest in her. We have so much raw materials like coal, gold, tin, iron ore, natural gas and many more that we are yet to explore and use to our advantage. If these natural resources were carefully managed and the profits used to develop the country, Nigeria will not only grow economically, but also attract a lot of other potential investors to and around the country. The country can also grow exponentially if the government actually listens to the people and works to improve some of the major needs of the citizens, like water and healthcare and housing projects for the homeless.
The United States is currently the largest foreign investor in Nigeria. Still, in Nigeria the places with the richest resources are home to the poorest people. I would encourage the United States to continue investing in our country, but make sure that Nigeria truly benefits from this investment; we need a trickle up effect within the country so that every social class in the country is satisfied. I would employ Jubilee USA to continue to work to make sure that promises made towards Nigeria are fulfilled. Nigeria is like a raw material that just needs to be processed into a finished product.
Friday, July 23, 2010
By Patricia Rumer, Debt Detective
On my travels, I took some time to investigate one of the key pieces in fighting poverty: education. I wanted to know: has debt cancellation helped the education sector? What have been the victories? The challenges?
Education is a primary goal for the Zambian government, the World Bank and civil society. In visits to three schools: one basic (primary); open school and a secondary school everyone agrees that Zambia has achieved parity among girls and boys at the primary level which is one of the objectives of MDG # 2 – universal primary education.
Although statistics vary, it is estimated that 16% of the national budget goes to education (the Ministry of Finance calculates that 30% of the national budget goes to Education and Health Care combined).
Eldar Chirwa, UNDP economist, stated that Zambia is making progress on all of the MDG’s. Saul Banda, formerly Jubilee Zambia staff and now at the Ministry of Education, cited that 5000 new teachers have been recruited in the past three years. He estimates that 50 secondary schools out of 100 planned new schools will be finished this academic year.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS?
BASIC OR PRIMARY EDUCATION: In Chipata, a poor urban compound in Lusaka, Rosie Phiri, a basic school teacher said that four new basic schools (government funded) have been built and one more secondary school is being completed in this community. The challenge is that there still are more students than spaces in the public schools.
Debt cancellation did remove school user fees but PTA dues, school uniforms and books are annual expenses for families. Open Community Schools sprung up during the HIPC period in order to serve children whose families could not afford school fees. Community Schools still exist – in Chipata the Open Community School enrolls 1300 children, mostly orphans and vulnerable children in a K-4th grade program. The government provides about $3 million Kwacha a year ($600.00USD) and parents pay only 5000 Kw per term per student which is about $1USD a term. Parents constructed the first classroom and then, the association of community schools was able to provide funding through August 2009. Unfortunately, their funding expired and now the open community schools are struggling to stay open.
Open community schools are unique in that students do not have to wear uniforms and at the Chipata School they have two classrooms for special needs children – the government basic schools do not provide that service.
Ndubeni Frank Peter, Teacher Coordinator, Chipata Basic School reflected his disappointment with debt cancellation results. He said that teachers and other workers had made big sacrifices during the HIPC period but have not seen the education budget double or triple since 2006.
Mrs. Mwanza, Head Teacher, Chipata Basic School sees progress in education post-debt cancellation.
· Secondary schools have been upgraded
· Training of 600 math and science teachers
· Upgraded two teacher colleges to universities: Kabwe and Copper belt
· Provide in-service training for staff
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Six Months Later: Will Haiti Suffer from Debt Déjà Vu?
By Julia Dowling and Alexandra Zarecky
Monday, July 12, 2010 was the six-month anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti. In response to the estimated 230,000 dead, 300,000 injured, 1,000,000 made homeless, and a majority of the nation’s infrastructure destroyed, Haiti received stunning international support. Jubilee USA’s own activists mobilized across the country right after the quake, calling for the nation’s debt to be eliminated from the growing list of concerns for its well being. By May 28th a large portion of Haiti’s debt to financial institutions, totaling $709 million, had been canceled by the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank, and the international community had committed to future assistance in the form of grants, not loans. At an aid conference in March, donor pledges totaled $5.3 billion for the country’s recovery and reconstruction through a special fund.
However, six months later, some disturbing figures reveal that much of the results from our efforts may be all talk and no action. The millions of dollars promised by governments around the world for Haiti’s recovery have come into question – many financial promises have not yet actualized. According to CNN, less than 2% of the promised $5.3 billion has actually been given to the recovery fund. Haitian lives remain at stake as governments postpone the delivery of aid. To add insult to injury, this past week the IMF announced that it will provide Haiti a $60 million loan to boost the country's international reserves. While it is the IMF's most concessional financing, with zero percent interest until 2011 and a 5-year grace period, the loan threatens to return Haiti into a cylce of debt.
We have seen this happen before and it will surely happen again. Countries and institutions scramble to respond to an emergency with million-dollar pledges, but do so without a way to ensure its speedy and full delivery. The US government promised $1.32 billion, but the money remains frozen because it needs Congressional approval. Part of the reason assistance isn’t delivered on time, if at all, is because governments are forced to do the whole process haphazardly.
To avoid this in the future, citizens all over the world should demand an established mechanism that can be relied on in times of crisis instead of the consistent ad hoc responses. This pre-planned tool will give the aid commitment and delivery process more transparency and accountability. It is especially critical that this sort of emergency response mechanism incorporate concepts of responsible lending and borrowing that address the wants and needs of poor citizens actually living in these countries. With a financial responsibility code of conduct, Haiti could have spent money investing in its people’s basic needs instead of paying the World Bank and IMF – this $72 million in loans Haiti received from the Bank and IDB threatens to return them to a cycle of indebtedness.
We can stop this déjà vu for Haiti and other impoverished countries once and for all.
Join Jubilee USA Network in continue calling for an end to this reprehensive financial irresponsibility t
Upcoming Events:
If you can volunteer, contact Margaret Corse at 997-4067.
If you can volunteer, contact Margaret Corse at 997-4067.
Students 6th grade & older who have not been confirmed are invited to join this class. Contact Pastor Otte is interested.
If you can volunteer, contact Margaret Corse at 997-4067.
If you can volunteer, contact Margaret Corse at 997-4067.
Come and enjoy a great day of crafts, music and learning about God's Creation to kick-off our new Sunday School year. Make a pledge (parents and students) to be in Sunday School every week this year!
Lectionary Texts:
RCL (C) 1992 The Consultation on Common Texts used by permission